By Alpha Abu
Three senior officials in the previous All Peoples Congress (APC) government, two of them already deceased, have had their properties confiscated and forfeited to the state. This was contained in a statement from the Office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice dated 28 July 2021. The move was as a result of an order by a Government White Paper in the wake of three Commissions of Inquiry that the present SLPP government instituted to look into the stewardship of the past regime.
Former Minister of State in the Office of the President, Leonard Balogun Koroma who also later served as Minister of Transport and Aviation, has forfeited a house located at Al Shiek drive at Hill Station in Freetown. Commissioner, Justice Annan Williams Atuguba from Ghana had presented his recommendations to the government, based on findings, after presiding over Koroma’s matter in one of the three commissions that all ran simultaneously, from 2019 to 2020.
Two houses in Freetown, one situated at Ataya Base, Hill Station and the other at Roberts Street, linked to prominent APC official, Momoh Konteh who died in a fatal road crash last year, have also been seized. His case was handled at the inquiry headed by Sierra Leonean Judge, Bankole Thompson.
Late Minkailu Bah who served the entire 11 years of the APC administration as Minister of Education was identified as owner of a house at Gloucester Road, Gloucester Village in the mountain rural district of Freetown that has been confiscated and forfeited to the state. Nigerian Judge Biobele Georgewill presided over the proceedings.
According to the Attorney General’s Office, occupants or persons believed to be in possession of those houses have been given a 14 day notice to vacate the said properties.
Since the recommendations of the commissions of inquiry and the release of the government white paper, a good number of individuals found culpable, have gone to the Appeal Court. A few have so far won their appeals whilst those that lost have had extra fines imposed on them.
President Julius Maada Bio upon winning the 2018 elections, stuck to his campaign promise of zero tolerance for graft, by ordering the setting up of a provisional Government Transition Team (GTT) which looked into the conduct of the previous APC administration. The GTT presented a damning report of alleged corruption of an alarming scale, which led to the setting up of the commissions of inquiry.
Copyright © 2021 Politico Online (02/08/21)
